Cowen says Tullamore Hospital funding inadequate

Services at Tullamore Hospital will come “under huge pressure” this year due to inadequate funding, according Offaly TD Barry Cowen.

Last week the HSE announced the Midlands Regional Hospital Tullamore (MRHT) has received €84.4 million in funding for 2016.  The 2016 budget projects that MRHT will treat 11,000 inpatients and over 33,000 day care patients, in addition to patients expected to attend the emergency department.

The plan prioritises the delivery of a replacement MRI unit and additional ultrasound capacity at MRHT. An overall budgetary allocation of €2.57 million has been set aside to deliver these additional facilities, the HSE said.

However, Fianna Fáil TD for Offaly North Tipperary, Barry Cowen, has expressed serious concern following the budget allocation announcement. He believes it will be inadequate to meet the demands of the hospital in 2016.

He said “€84.5 million has been provided for the hospital in 2016. While this is a small increase on the original budget for 2015, it is €2.7 million less than what was needed last year. Clearly services in the hospital are going to be under huge pressure this year.”

According to Deputy Cowen, “this decrease comes despite the fact that, as the plans itself points out, the demand for acute hospital services continues to increase in line with a growing and ageing population.”

Deputy Cowen said “it’s important to also keep in mind that the numbers waiting for scheduled operations increased by 11 per cent during 2015. Other figures this week show that the numbers on trolleys in Tullamore Hospital in February 2016 were 18.5 per cent higher than in February 2015.”

CEO of the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group (DMHG), Dr Susan O’Reilly described the “publication of the DMHG’s Operational Plan is a significant milestone for MRHT and the other Group hospitals. For the first time, the DMHG has responsibility for funding hospital services in Tullamore, ensuring the services and budget provided better meet the patient needs and are tailored, in so far as possible, to local issues,” she said last week.

Dr O’Reilly admitted that “there are certainly challenges to operating within the allocation that we need to tackle, in particular, the impact of an ageing population and increasing demand for services.”

She said “DMHG and MRHT will now work together to deliver optimum services for our patients in Tullamore, within the resources available but at the same time ensuring that quality and patient safety remains a key priority at all times.  In 2016, investment in services and new facilities such as the MRI unit and additional ultrasound capacity will help in achieving this goal.”